UNC School of Education

>> New, Rebecca

Rebecca New’s research—most of which has focused on Italian early care and education policies and practices—has had a significant influence on early care and education in the United States. She played a major role in introducing U.S. educators to Reggio Emilia’s municipal early childhood program and helped to initiate a national dialogue on the limitations of prevailing interpretations of developmentally appropriate practices and Piagetian theory. As teachers across the United States began to explore alternative interpretations of inclusive early education, especially as illustrated by the Reggio Emilia example, New advocated for greater leadership at the classroom level for inquiry into and advocacy for diverse pathways to learning and development.

New’s work has been translated into multiple languages, and she has served as a consultant to early educational programs in nations around the world.

More recent research on the diverse perspectives of immigrant parents and teachers regarding children’s early learning raises new questions about the politics and possibilities of education in a pluralistic democracy and the larger global society.

Her work with the FirstSchool Initiative is focused on the necessary reforms in teacher education to accomplish three goals: to address children’s diverse transitions into public school settings more effectively, to involve children’s families meaningfully in their early education, and to work collaboratively toward insuring greater coherence and continuity across the preschool and primary grades.